By Jaime Frederick, Local Journalism Initiative

The BC Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) killed a yearling grizzly bear in the Nelson area on Wednesday, following consultation with the provincial wildlife veterinarian and wildlife biologists with the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. This is the second incident of a yearling bear being killed by the BCCOS in the Nelson area this year. The service said in an emailed statement that “while unfortunate, [the bear’s] age, injury and conflict history made it unsuitable for rehabilitation or relocation.”

The bear, which had a noticeably deformed back leg, had been seen frequently in recent weeks in the vicinity of Knox Road in Blewett, along with its mother and two siblings. The bear’s deformity was known to conservation officers, and they said in an email on July 23: “We can confirm this is an old injury that was reported last year. The bear with a limp is mobile and feeding, and there is no current concern regarding its well-being.”

Katie Graves, with the Ursa Project Society, a bear awareness and advocacy group based in Nelson, says the bear that was killed had seemed to be doing well despite his disability.

“[He’s] getting along just fine,” said Graves. “He can run and feed himself and he’ll be okay. He walks funny for sure. There are many three-legged bears who go on to live full lives.”

Graves added that the bear’s mother is the same grizzly sow who was relocated with an earlier pair of cubs by the BCCOS in 2023. These yearling bears are her second litter, and Graves says they were likely born in January or February of 2025. Grizzly bear cubs often stay with their mother for two to three years or longer, until they are mature enough to survive on their own. Graves said that she is not aware of the mother or cubs ever exhibiting aggressive behaviour toward humans.

“The mom has been a great mom,” said Graves. “After she was relocated with the two cubs in 2023, she came back to Nelson. She stayed in Nelson, in the Fort Sheppard Uphill area, for about two and a half months before she went to go den. She got into someone’s open compost–I mean, that’s the worst thing she did. She’s very good at knowing how to coexist with people. And teaching her kids to do the same thing, which is really making our grizzly population better for it, right?”

Robert Filippo, whose family has been observing grizzly bears on their property near Apex Summit, 12 km south of Nelson, for more than 40 years, says he has never had a problem with this grizzly sow or any of her cubs. 

“She comes through here every five or six days,” said Filippo. “And some days I [see] her, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes she walks 50 feet away from me. I’ve had the cubbies come up within about 50 feet of me. I’ve had no aggression from her whatsoever. No sign, no bluff charges, no inquisitives, nothing.”

In its statement, the BCCOS did not provide any details about the “conflict history” of the yearling bear who was killed. They did say that the decision to kill the bear was not made lightly and that it followed “multiple reports of bear conflicts.” They added that “it is always unfortunate if an injured, sick or conflict bear needs to be safely and humanely put down.”

Graves laments the decision to kill the yearling bear and says property owners in the area are largely responsible for its death. 

“If we would not put our garbage outside and [would] clean our barbeques, you know, some very simple little things, then she wouldn’t have to lose her [cub],” said Graves. “You know, they’re not, they’re not becoming a public safety issue. They’re not attacking people. They’re not. They’re good bears.”

Filippo agrees: “Next to her getting into garbage and somebody’s barbeque – they should be the ones responsible for this happening and not the bears, right?” he said. “I’ve had no problem with them. None whatsoever.”

Graves suggested that the BCCOS in the area could be much more proactive in preventing “bear conflicts” by educating property owners and enforcing laws intended to prevent situations like this one before they happen.

“The conservation officers actually have a lot of powers that are used in other places in BC, but our officers for some reason are not using,” she said. “They have the ability to fine people for not cleaning their barbeque or for leaving their garbage out. They do not do that here. They’ve issued some fines up in the Slocan Valley for people who weren’t electric fencing their chickens, for instance, but they don’t use their powers like that here for some reason. They don’t fine, they don’t haze the bears, which they certainly should be. And they do it in plenty of other places where it works very effectively.”

In their statement, the BCCOS said that they are aware of another grizzly sow with two cubs that are also frequenting the Nelson area. They said that “trapping efforts are underway” and that “any bears captured will be assessed to determine next steps, in collaboration with the provincial large carnivore specialist and wildlife biologists with Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. A provincial wildlife biologist is also on site in Nelson.”

Kootenay Co-op Radio is following the developing story and will post updates as they are available.

Conservation Officer Service Grizzly bear nelson